


Flowers don't grow in the desert

by Riko_Ihe



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Gen, Sick!Sousuke, Sousuke's mother, practically his dad and sister too but they don't make much of an appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-14
Updated: 2014-08-14
Packaged: 2018-02-13 02:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2133306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riko_Ihe/pseuds/Riko_Ihe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end, even miracles have a time limit</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flowers don't grow in the desert

It's in his first year of high school that he finds out. Chest pains, shoulder pains, dizziness and sometimes even nausea. His parents forced him to the hospital after the third time he nearly fell down the stairs and almost threw up. He skips the first appointment, doesn't think it's more important than practice, not when Rin was coming back _(he was coming back, right? sousuke couldn't bear to think otherwise)_ When his parents found out he was grounded for a week and they went with him to the doctor. His mother's face when she heard is still clear in his memory _(her baby boy was dying, had she done something wrong? had she been a bad parent?)_

Sousuke had always thought he could be the flower in the desert, the miracle, the one who would inspire others _(when the doctor told him he was dying, he could feel the water being drained from him)_

He's fifteen and dying. He's supposed to be out with his friends, get a girlfriend or two, be in the national. What he does, is focus on the nationals. He takes every tip he finds, does his exercises, eats healthy food, takes his medicine. It made him cold, unapproachable. 

In his second year of high school he sees Rin again _(he's back? why didn't he tell me? am i a bad friend?)_. But Rin has changed (or is it him?), he got disqualified. Sousuke gets angry. When he gets home he punches his walls, roars and screams and when his mother asks him what's wrong, he breaks down ( _everything is wrong, he's dying, it hurts and hurts and it's never gonna get better)_ and he lets his mother, his sweet sweet mother, wrap him up in his arms. They stay like that for two hours, just savoring what little time they have left.

He decides to go to Samezuka for his last year of high school. He wants to make sure Rin takes swimming seriously, wants to make sure that Rin will be the best _(because he can't, not anymore at least)_. So he tells Nanase to back off, makes sure Rin does his exercises, tells him about the scout (he told the scout to go to Rin first, what use is a dead man in a pool anyway?) and tries to be the best friend Rin proclaimed him to be.

One morning, a week after the nationals _(they won, they are the best, Rin was scouted)_ , he wakes up to pain. He tries to get out of the bunk, but his body gives out and he falls to the floor and all he can think is 'not now, not now'. Rin wakes up from the noise, Sousuke remembers hearing screams and chaos before he blacked out.

He wakes up in the hospital, his family is there, but he can see Rin and Gou and Niitori and even Momotarou. He thinks of calling out to them, but his eyes land on his mother. Her bulging stomach looks ready to burst and he ends up straining himself to reach out to her. His mother notices quickly and jumps to him, his father not far behind, she takes his hand says that it'll be okay, the doctors said he had some time left still _(he knows it's not okay, knows he doesn't have time, but he nods, he can't hurt his mother more than he already has)_. He thinks he can hear Rin cry, and maybe Gou, Niitori and Momotarou too. 

He falls asleep to the sound of his mother's voice.

When he wakes up, his mother is gone. He nearly panicks, but Rin's there. He takes his hand and says it's okay, 'she went into labor, two weeks early'. They sit there for hours, talking, albeit slowly, and Rin never lets go of his hand. When his father comes inside, he says 'you're a big brother kid, we wanted you to see her, but the doctors said they had to check up on her first' so he gets to see a picture, the little girl has coal black hair and turquoise eyes. He says Eri would be a nice name.

Three days later, Sousuke lies on his bed, his family sitting around him. He falls asleep to his little sister's cries, his mother's hysteric voice and his father's harsh grip around his arm. He never wakes up again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So after the new episode I felt like angst was needed. Sorry about that.  
> Anyways, I always imagined that Sousuke was a mama's boy! His father was the one who worked, so his mother raised him, and therefor he's strongly attached to his mother.  
> Eri means 'blessed prize', I thought it would fit! And it's not beta'ed, so it may seem a bit rushed, so sorry about that!


End file.
